A charity set up by a mother whose son cannot smile has been left out of pocket after an investigation into a fundraising competition.

Trustees at the Moebius Syndrome Support Group have been told there is little chance of finding out what happened to tens of thousands of unaccounted competition tickets.

The group was started by Linda Anderson of Whitley Bay to raise awareness of her 24-year-old son Glen's condition, which includes facial paralysis.

Determined to help him and others, Mrs Anderson started the support group which became a registered charity in 1999. It now has more than 1,000 members and an annual income of £10,000.

But in 2001, the Charities Commission started an inquiry after a complaint about former trustee Karl Bibby, who was fundraising on behalf of the group.

Mrs Anderson, 46, said: "It's been very upsetting."

Bibby, in his early thirties and from Bradford, was selling competition tickets for £2 a time. But, without the charity's knowledge, he had employed 16 collectors across the UK without proper licences.

Trustees at the Tyneside group were also under the impression he had ordered only 42,000 tickets from a printer. But Charity Commission inquiries found the true figure was 93,000, of which only 21,500 were either destroyed or returned to the printers.

Bibby later admitted failing to disclose the full amount. He then failed to hand over all money, unsold tickets, badges and other items he had handled for the charity, according to the commission report.

The commission investigation named Bibby and said: "It has therefore been impossible to ascertain how many tickets were sold and how much money was generated."

Bibby was investigated by police but they decided there was insufficient evidence to pursue him in connection with the fund-raising.

The probe found that both the trustees and Bibby were not fully aware of the legal requirements of the fundraising he was undertaking. The charity has been advised by lawyers it would not be "financially viable" for them to chase Bibby for compensation. When approached by the Chronicle Bibby refused to comment.